Thursday, September 21, 2017

When
Rupawatientered Baithak or the sitting room ,she was
happy to see her New daughter in law seated on a raised platform with some
pillows on her back . Embracing her affectionately , she kissed her forehead .
That made both of them happy . Straightening the sheet underneath before
sitting near her daughter in law ,she said;

“Go and
just stretch your legs .One gets tired by sittingin one posture only. Now None is expected to come this way. I shall
also sleep a while . I feellike taking
some rest.”

It was 2 PM
. The family had already finished their
Lunch . No lady from Mohalla was expected now . No relatives were expected at
this odd time.Rupawati pulled a Pillow
towards her and tried to sleep.

She had
barely closed her eyeswhen she heard a knock at the door . It was sham Rani . She had come to have tea from the New daughter in law ( Nov Nosh ) . That wasa custom in kashmiri Pandit families . Every
close relation would come to see the New bride and thecustom demanded that the guest would have acup of Tea prepared by the new daughter in
law. The custom also demanded that the bride would bepaid some cash by the Guestfor this cup ofTea .

Post marriage , Everygirl was given a new name in her in laws house . Accordingly,Rupawati hadrenamed herdaughter in lawas “
Lakshmi” . Prior to her marriage Lakshmi was known as Asha Koul in her parental
home .

Shaam Raani , Who had just arrived to have her
cup of Teafrom the bride was sister of
Rupawati ‘s Husband ( affectionately knownas Bai sahib ) . Bai Sahib Or Moti lal Dhar worked as Head clerk in PWD
. He enjoyed respect and command amongst his relations . Every one was
impressed to see his Boss Nazir Sahib ( Divisional Engineer ) in the marriage
of saeba(Moti lal’s son ) . Nazir Sahib had even sent his personal car and driver for
three days to Moti lal Dhar ‘s residence during the marriage days . The family
felt grateful for this act.

Coming
close to Lakshmi, Shaam Rani kissed her forehead and said;

“ Bajaah
Guss . Mooss Nerinukh ”

OR

“ Let you
prosper .Let this family flourish now with your arrival. ”

Though relations between Shaam Rani and
Rupawati appeared to be good but some insiders knew it well that they were
actually not so intimate and considerate to each other . There was some bickering in this relation on account of marriage of Gaasha or Shaam Rani’s son . Shaam Rani Believed that
Rupawati hadbeen instrumental inConveying some adverse reports to the middle
man ( Manzimyor ) about Gaasha ( Shaam
Rani’s son ) as a result of which his marriageproposalwith a girl from a wealthy family had frittered away . Shaam Rani had lodged this
complaint with her brother Moti Lal as
well but he had not dealt the issue on expected lines . He had neither rebuked
his wife nor shown much desired sympathy
with his sister sham Rani. In the alternative he had told his sister;

“ First I
don’t believe that your sister in law ( Moti lal ‘s wife ) will say so.Isn’t
Gaasha ( Shaam Rani’sson ) a matriculate ?Why have you written BA Pass on the marriage proposaldocument( Tekini or Tewadaa )? “

WhenSham Rani hadheard allthis from her own
brother , shehadturneddumb. She had alwaysbelieved
thatafter the death of her parents ,
her link with her parental home was almostsevered by None except Tarawati(
Her brother’s wife ). She believed that Tarawati had also changedher brother’s behavior Drastically . Now Moti Lalopenly sided with his wife in any
argument .But then she had only one brother . No choice but to remain tied to this relation even if it gave her perpetualannoyance .

Now Shaam
Rani came closer and started inspection of lakshmi’s Jewellery .She touched her
ear rings , her necklace and the golden Bangles . She also took her dangling
Dejhurr ( A SpecialGolden Ornamentworn by Kashmiri Pandit women as mangal-sutra
) in her hand as if to weigh it . She inspected the Dejhurr carefully and then
looked towards Rupawati . Her facial expressions conveyed some surprise.At this point of time ,
Rupawati looked towards Lakshmi and said ;

“ Vothee
YemissAunn Chaai ."

or

" Now Get Up and prepare tea for Shaam Rani “

Suddenly freeing herself from Shaam Rani ,
Lakshmi got up and went downstairs to prepare a cup of Tea . Finding that Lakshmi had left the room ,
Shaam Rani turned to Rupawati and said

“ You have
falleninto filth andgarbage withthis marriage . Had Kashmir shrunk to just eleven households? But yes ,
weknew nothing till you fixed up the
engagement date. Now all is okay but I find All this Jewellery just hollow and
Light weightand meant for show offonly ( Phokka ) . My Daughter in law had everything made of heavy
and solid gold ( Tokka ) .Your son
Saeba Ji isa Jewel. He would have been married to a girl from some wealthy and prosperous family .I believe you have been befooled and trapped.”

That made
Rupawati pensive . She had nothing against lakshmi . But she also knew that
Shaam Rani's observation was bound to disturb her position among her relations
and neighbours.She knew that now onwards Sham Rani
was not going to remain silent about what shehadobserved with regard to the
Ornamentsof the New bride .

( Autar
Mota)

PS

The story
is set in Kashmir of 1970 when the old practice of inspection of jewellery of a bride
bylady relations of her husband
continuedto existin bits and piecesin kashmiri Pandit society . Though the
Practice of Dowry demands were almost non existent or negligible in kashmiri Pandit
society , yet the custom ofinspection
of jewelleryof a brideby Ladies survivedtill it died its own death . Curious women
would put a common question tothe lady
who inspected the jewellery first ;

“Kehaai
Phokka Chhaa kina Tokka ?

Or

“ Is it
Just for show and light weight or Solid and heavy jewellery ? ”

With thespread ofeducation and
exposure, this practice vanished
altogether.

( Meaning of the Above Lines.. .About hundred guests were invited to the feast ; When the guests sat
for the joint feast, it suddenly struck to me that we had not added
salt to the dishes...)

Kashmiri use the line "Vaen Pyom tcheitus Graekki Vizi Noon" . It used to be a popular saying in kashmiri society. It means remembering something at a very late stage when nothing can be done. In kashmiri language,Graekk or Graekki literally means boiling.But in above lines
it would be better to understand the word as peak time or when too many
things are to be done and we are stressed with no time to attend to
something that should have been already done .

Broken is the moon and the stars too have melted down. The night trickles on earth drop after drop, Tired eye lids drop down effortlessly , Restless lies the night within my eyes , Love! Do not talk about That tale of despair today ! Blow out the candle , Put down this wine cup, Tell every one “ The Tavern is closed today ” And Let me sleep tonight .

Monday, September 18, 2017

M F Hussain also wrote poems in Blank verse.Small poems written in a language of images , landscapes and colors. I quote one such poem that I came across today..

The poem has been rendered to simple English by me.....

(1)

If only , Someone could pass on that entire white sheet of snow from the sky, That entire spotless white sheet, Then only, I Could cover the infinite gloom Appearing on your face. Otherwise, How can I decorate this gloom with white flowers? And listen, The moment I start my painting, Please hold the sky in your hands, I still remain unfamiliar with the spread and dimensions of my canvas.. (Autar Mota)

BIJU PATNAIK ( 1916-1997) AND KASHMIR

Biju Patnaik was born in Cuttack Orissa in 1916, into an aristocratic family.Apart from being a politician from Odisha ,
Biju Babu was an Aeronautical engineer, Navigator, Industrialist, A daring pilot
and a front line Freedom Fighter .Biju Babu had been a daring man right from his
childhood. As a young college boy, he Bicycled all the way from Cuttack to
Peshawar . Much before 1947, He had joined as a pilot in the Royal Air Force of
British Empire.

On 24th July 1947 , At Pandit Nehru’s request
,Biju Babu airlifted and rescued Sultan Sariar Khan and Muhhamad Srihatta , two
key Indonesian independence leaders from a remote hideout in Indonesia and flew
them to India. He flew to Jakarta and Java under extremely dangerous conditions
of Bombing and fight where his aircraft could have been shot down any moment. A
specific request was made by Sukarno to Nehru for this Rescue Mission. The
colonial Dutch were after his blood when they came to know about this rescue
Mission . The Indonesians Named him “Bhumi Putra” and in 1996 Indonesian
Government awarded the highest national award, the 'Bintang Jasa Utama'. In
this rescue mission,Biju Babu was accompanied by his daring wife Gyanwati Sethi
who was also a trained pilot.Gyan was a Punjabi girl from Lahore and she
married Biju in 1939.

( Biju Babu and Gyan )

( Biju Babu and Gyan )

Biju himself piloted the plane that carried his Barat( Wedding party ) to
Lahore.

During second world war, Biju Patnaik and his
wife Gyan played crucial role in air dropping medicines and supplies for
soldiers and also evacuating Indians to safety from war ravaged Burma.

During India’s Freedom struggle , Biju Babu
gave shelter to Aruna Asif Ali In his Cuttack House when British Government
declared a reward of 40 thousand rupees to capture Aruna Asaf Ali

He was awarded “ ORDER OF LENIN “ By Russians
for his commendable work in helping the Russians during 2nd world war against Hitler’s
Army .

BIJU BABU’S ROLE IN SAVING SRINAGAR CITY FROM
TRIBAL RAIDERS IN 1947....

At Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru’s specific
request , Biju Patnaik played a daring role in carrying first Batch of 17
Soldiers of Sikh Regiment to Srinagar at the crack of Dawn on 27 October 1947.
It was rumoured that Tribals had already captured Srinagar Air Port and some
daring Pilot was needed for the Specific mission of air dropping first Batch of
Armed solders . That Day, He flew at a very low level to look around whether
the enemy had already taken over the airport or not. He flew over Srinagar
Airport for about 30 Minutes and once he was sure that the landing was safe ,
he landed his DC -3 Aircraft and hurried back to Capital to bring more soldiers
. Pandit Ji had given very clear instructions not to land if he felt the
presence of Pakistan sponsored Tribal raiders at Srinagar Air Port .

At that crucial time , Maharaja had suddenly
left Srinagar and there was practically no administration. It was reported that
the advancing Tribal raiders were approaching Srinagar city via two routes ;
one Bandipora -safapora road and the other Pattan- Baramulla road . They had
almost reached srinagar’s outskirts , The city had already plunged into total
darkness with Raiders destroying Mohra Power house. Fear and panic prevailed
all over . Volunteers from Men and women Militia marched through the street of
Srinagar city , building confidence of the population terrified from reports
about advancing Tribal Raiders . They Guarded Bridges , Roads and Vital
Installations in the city . The First Indian Aircraft ( carrying Soldiers )
that Kashmiris saw flying over Srinagar city during those Turbulent days was
piloted by Biju Patnaik.

Residents of Srinagar city heaved a sigh of
relief once they saw all this. They had every reason to believe that the
impending death and destruction in the city from the hands of marauding Raiders
had been averted .

Mohhamad Sayeed Malik
well known Journalist from J&K Informs me as under :

” During the Emergency (1976) Biju Patnaik, against whom
there was an arrest warrant along with other opposition leaders, stayed in
Srinagar for nearly two weeks and my boss (at PATRIOT newspaper) Aruna Asaf Ali
asked me to look after him. It appeared that Mrs Gandhi was not that keen in
pursuing Biju's arrest warrant, probably because of her father's close
association with him. Arunaji called me to receive Patnaik at Srinagar
airport and his accommodation had been booked at the then Oberoi Palace hotel.
He was accompanied by his wife who was closely related to 'Sethis' of ND
Radhakishen & Co (red colour Mail bus service).

During that time I had taken long leave from PATRIOT
to take up the contract job of State's Director Information and PR in Sheikh
Saheb's govt. Sheikh Saheb willingly permitted me to 'give company' to Biju
during his stay here. At times it necessitated joining the Patnaik's at dinner
in their hotel. To keep company with Mrs Patnaik, Arunaji desired that my wife
too joined me, as courtesy. So it became our daily duty to visit them late
afternoon and my wife was not all too comfortable with her imposed role because
of her own domestic preoccupation. Probably, appreciating the value of time we were
spending with them, Biju offered me to take local agency for his Kalinga Pipes
in J&K. I politely declined saying business was not my cup of tea and that
I would only make a mess of his company's market reputation. He just would not
listen. He shoved Rs 1, 000 into pocket literally forcibly and suggested I
start with this as my capital. I still owe that amount to him because he just
would not accept the fact that I could be so foolish as to reject such a good
offer. Mrs Patnaik did visit Sethis during that time. On
their return, Biju did call a few times to thanks us. But he saved me the
embarrassment of again saying 'no' to his Kalinga Pipes offer.”

And Biju Babu remains unknown and unsung…

( Autar Mota )

PS

Gyanwati sethi was an ex student of Lahore’s prestigious, Kinnaird college . Originally her family
hailed from Raja Bazar area of Rawalpindi. Gyan was one of the first women in
the undivided India to get a commercial pilot’s licence in 1937. She co-piloted
with her husband and former Chief Minister of Orissa Biju Patnaik’s aircraft on
several trips around the world.

What
is to be done to dogs that get trapped ? Are these poor animals to be Sterilized ?

I
am reminded of 1988 when something strange happened at Mattan town in Kashmir .

One
Ramesh kumar was posted in BDO's office
and assigned to look after cleanliness of shops and eatables in Mattan Bazaar . I don't remember his designation but we used
to call him “ Ward Officer” . Many
friends told me that he was a sanitary inspector .He would be seen inside a
milk seller's shop gulping curd Lassi free . Quite often this hospitality was
extended to me and a common friend and engineer Mr Bamzai.

Ramesh
ji would also take home mutton free from Hassan butcher who had a shop just
opposite our branch . Many times I would see him gossiping with the
butcher .This butcher had a truck loan with our Bank branch which was irregular
. I would keep visiting his shop for recovery and he would always show me some prescription
or relate some problem as the reason for his default . He would conclude :

That
“ very soon “ never saw the light of the day till I remained posted at
MattanBranch of the bank .

There
were lot of stray dogs in Mattan those days. Some residents had also been
attacked by these dogs. Accordingly , it
was decided by BDO’s office to end this
dog menace and a contract was awarded to Hassan Butcher .This contract was
secured by Hassan Butcher with active help and inside cooperation from Ramesh
ji. Ramesh ji and Hassan butcher had planned a novel and cheap way to get rid of dogs. Hassan butcher stored
mutton waste and bones etc from his shop for two / three days and then, as
planned , he threw some pieces outside his shop . So many dogs collected and busied themselves in the devouring the liberal feast offered by Hassan butcher
.At that moment ,Hassan Butcher brought his truck , opened the back side plank
and made a ramp for the dogs to walk in
to the truck.. He then threw bones and mutton waste into the truck's back side.
Both Ramesh ji ,Hassan butcher and another Employee from the BDO’s office guided dogs to go into the truck with
pieces if mutton being flung inside . When sufficient number of dogs were
enjoying the mutton and bone pieces in the truck, the scheming contractor and
his helpers closed the back of the truck and carried the dogs to Sangam Bridge
Bijbihara ( about 20 kms ) and let them jump out. The exercise was repeated.
People heaved a sigh of relief as no dog was seen onthat Saturday in Mattan Bazaar .

Since
it was Saturday and we closed the Bank
at 2 PM and I would invariablyrush to
my family at srinagar . That Saturday , Ramesh ji and his friends​ stayed back for a grand party
from earnings of this dog contract that had been executed almost free by Hassan
Butcher.

When I resumed on Monday morning I found a noisy crowd outside Hassan Butcher's shop. I also came to know that Ramesh ji had already
been given a good thrashing by National Conference Leader Mustafa Bodha and his
nephews in main Bazaar of Mattan. Dogs had enjoyed all the mutton and
bonesfrom Hassan butcher’s shopbut hadwalked back to Mattan town from
Bijbihara on Sunday . On Monday , They were roaming as usual in Mattan town.